Bill Hedden - Executive Director
Since joining the staff in February 1996, Bill Hedden has coordinated the Trust's activities in the canyon country of southern Utah. Among the issues he has worked on are such diverse projects as: cleanup of the radioactive uranium mill wastes that poison the Colorado River near Moab; retirement of grazing from ecologically critical areas like the Escalante River canyon; creation of a directory of all conservation groups working on the Colorado Plateau; expansion of Arches National Park in 1998; and reform of the way Utah's state lands are managed. He was appointed executive director of the Trust in April 2003. Bill is a longtime resident of Moab, Utah; a former County Councilmember in Grand County; member of the Utah Board of Parks and Recreation; and member of The Nature Conservancy's Utah Board. He has a B.A. and a Ph.D. in Biology from Harvard University.

Christine Albano – Restoration Program Coordinator

Christine joined the Trust in April 2007 and is primarily responsible for coordinating research and restoration projects on the Kane and Two-Mile Ranches. Christine brings 7 years of graduate research and professional experience in ecological assessment and monitoring of stream and riparian systems in the Great Basin, Rocky Mountains and on the Colorado Plateau. Prior to joining the Trust, she was a biologist for the US Geological Survey in Utah, where her work focused on water quality assessment and biomonitoring. Most recently, she helped to develop and test biomonitoring field techniques specifically for Colorado Plateau streams for the National Park Service Inventory and Monitoring program. Christine received her B.S. in Biology from Westminster College in her home town of Salt Lake City, UT. She earned her M.S. in Ecology from Colorado State University in 2006.

Darcy Allen - Associate Director: Administration
Darcy Allen has been with Grand Canyon Trust since June of 1995 and has lived in Flagstaff, Arizona for over 20 years. Darcy is a graduate of Northern Arizona University where she received her B.A. in Liberal Arts with an emphasis in Public Relations. As the "MAD" manager, Darcy is responsible for many different aspects of Trust life. Her main focus is the loyal and knowledgeable members of Grand Canyon Trust. Additionally, she helps with all aspects of development, and serves on the human resource, facilities, and finance teams. Darcy Allen loves her job.

Ethan Aumack - Restoration Program Director
Ethan, a former program manager from 1997-2001, returned to the Trust in 2004 as Director of Restoration Programs. He co-manages fire and forest restoration work on the southern Colorado Plateau and oversees restoration activities for Kane and Two-Mile Ranches. His work is primarily focused on efforts to initiate or accelerate recovery of natural landscapes and processes, and native plant and animal species in the region.
Ethan earned a B.A. from Swarthmore College and an M.S. in Environmental Science and Policy from Northern Arizona University

Shannon Baker - Finance Manager, North Rim Ranches

Shannon signed on with the Trust in December 2007. After more than 20 years living and working on a cattle ranch in the Nebraska Sandhills and managing a feed store, she earned her MBA at Regis University in Denver. She lived in Boulder, Colorado for a few years before settling in Flagstaff in 2006. Shannon is thrilled to combine her love of the land with her business experience.

Lauren Berutich - Volunteer Program Coordinator

 Lauren came on board the Trust in January of 2008 after returning from a 4 month volunteer teaching position in rural Jamaica.  As a five-year resident of Flagstaff, she has come to appreciate and love the beautiful state of Arizona and all it has to offer.  She graduated in 2001 with a BA in Environmental Geography from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania and has focused most of her energy in outdoor environmental education.  Her experiences include teaching at the Montessori Charter School of Flagstaff, 3 years with Camp Colton as an environmental educator and office staff member, and summer instruction with the Discovery Program through the Museum of Northern Arizona.  Lauren hopes to continue connecting individuals with nature and encouraging positive conservation efforts through hands on projects and education.  In her spare time, she explores the southwest by foot, snow shoe, skis, and bike, or with a disc in her hand and always with a smile. 

Eleanor Bliss - Executive Assistant
Eleanor Bliss has worked for the Grand Canyon Trust, Moab office, since June 1998. She has a B.A. from Harvard University, majoring in Anthropology with a minor in Botany. She escaped Boston in 1976, with a huge sigh of relief, and built a home and gardens and raised two daughters in Castle Valley. She is also a member of the Castle Valley Planning Commission, board member of the Moab Music Festival, and library board.

Roger Clark - Air and Energy Program Director
Since 1978, Roger Clark has been an environmental advocate, educator, and guide throughout the western United States and Mexico. He first began working for the Trust in 1989 on actions to control air pollution from the coal-fired Navajo Generating Station, to reduce aircraft noise at the Grand Canyon, and to modify water releases to protect critical wildlife habitat downstream from Glen Canyon Dam. Roger left the Trust in 1994 to direct educational programs and exhibits at the Museum of Northern Arizona. He also served as a project manager, editor, and writer for the Center for Sustainable Environments at NAU. He returned to our staff in 2005 to take over the Air and Energy Program. In 1995 he received the Ben Avery Award from Arizona’s governor for “outstanding contributions to Arizona’s environment.” He is a lifetime member of Grand Canyon River Guides Association. He has a B.S. in Forestry from Northern Arizona University, graduate degrees in resource policy and philosophy from Yale University, and was an assistant professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

Steve Fluck - GIS Analyst
Steve joined the Trust as a GIS intern in 2000 and is now responsible for Geographic Information System (GIS) program support. Prior to working for the Trust, Steve had worked for 10 years in the technical and research aspects of environmental contaminent analysis, primarily with Mass Spectrometry and Gas Chromatography. He was also the manager of an ecological wastewater treatment pilot plant in Burlington,Vermont, and supervisor for the laboratory staff of a hazardous waste treatment, storage, and disposal firm in Pennsylvania. His lifelong interest in natural history and conservation biology led him to return to the University of Vermont in 1998 forgraduate-level coursework in GIS, field ecology, and statistics. He had a GIS internship with the Vermont Non-game and Natural Heritage Program in 1999, followed by a GIS watershed delineation internship at the Trust in 2000. Steve received his B.S. in Biology from Muhlenberg College in 1982.

Ben Jones - Native American Program Manager

Mr. Jones joined us in May 2007 and is a member of the Navajo Tribe (Big Water Clan) and is from Leupp, Arizona.   He earned MBA and MPA degrees from NAU.   Ben is now completing work on a PHD in Political Science at NAU with an emphasis on public policy and Navajo economic and legal discourse on water rights.  Previously, he was Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Division of Community Development, Executive Director of Dine College’s Institute for Rural Development, and General Manager of Leupp Family Farms.  He is an AmeriCorps member and has also served on several foundation boards and organizations such as Native Seeds Search.

Laura Kamala - Southern Utah Program Director
A passionate advocate and resident of the Colorado Plateau for 26 years, Laura joined the Trust staff full time in July 2003. She was founding board chair of the Castle Rock Collaboration and former director of the Southeast Branch of Utah Open Lands. Educated in Wildlife Biology at Rutgers University, she is a writer, musician, community collaborator, and sculptor in stone. Laura was a founding principal of The SynergyCompany of Moab, Utah, which produces health supplements. She works for The Earth Mandala Foundation for Global Peace through the Arts and once lived in Guatemala working for social change with the president of The Foundation of Mayan Ancianos. Laura is currently making a documentary film, which chronicles the creative community conservation movement in southeast Utah.

Nikolai Lash - Water and State Trust Land Program Director
Nikolai joined the Trust in November 1997. He has a B.A. in Liberal Studies from St. John's College and a J.D. from Stanford Law School. His project emphasis is water, including Greater Grand Canyon regional water work and restoring health to the Colorado River in Grand Canyon.

Neil Levine - Staff Attorney

Neil became the Staff Attorney for the Trust in June 2007. For the past 15 years, Neil has been litigating cases for environmental and community groups throughout the country on a wide range of issues from grazing in National Parks to protecting imperiled species under the Endangered Species Act to protecting private lands from coal-bed methane development.  Neil has previously worked as an attorney for Earthjustice and Earthlaw both in Denver and the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara.  Neil received his law degree from Tulane Law School and recently returned from exploring Patagonia

Richard Mayol - Communications Director
Richard joined the Trust team in April 2004 as Communications Director. He brings 25 years experience as a nationally recognized, award winning, political media and public policy consultant to the Trust. Richard has managed and produced communication/mass media campaigns for congressional, gubernatorial, and mayoral candidates as well as dozens of ballot measures across the West, compiling a 90% win record in the process. His earned and paid media campaigns helped win public approval for funding the McDowell Mountain Preserve in Scottsdale, Arizona; the purchase of Willow and Watson Lakes in Prescott, Arizona; and open space funding in Flagstaff, Prescott, and Santa Fe, New Mexico among others. Richard has a B.S. from the University of Tulsa.

Rick Moore – Associate Director: Programs
Rick fell in love with the Colorado Plateau on a hike down the Paria River in 1972. He received a B.A. in Philosophy and English from the University of Denver in 1974, moved to Durango, Colorado, and began exploring the region's spectacular mountains, canyons, rivers, and slickrock country. Rick joined the Trustin1992, initially focusing on the protection and management of the Plateau's phenomenal cultural and archaeological resources. From 1994 to 1997, he represented the Trust on the Grand Canyon Visibility Transport Commission, which worked on protecting visibility at the parks and wilderness areas on the Colorado Plateau. In the late 1990s, Rick led the Trust's successful effort to require the owners of the Mohave Generating Station to install new and improved pollution controls on the plant. He led the Trust's air quality program, which focused on clean up of the Springerville and San Juan power plants. Rick has also been involved in the Trust's efforts to promote clean energy and energy efficiency. He became Associate Director for Programs in the spring of 2008.

Mary O'Brien  - Southern Utah Forests Project Manager
Mary joined Grand Canyon Trust in Fall 2003 to help organize and co-coordinate the Three ForestsCoalition'sefforts to obtain greater care for  native wildlife, vegetation, and ecosystems on southern Utah's three national forests: the Dixie, Fishlake, and Manti-La Sal. Since earning a B.S. in Sociology, a Masters in Elementary Education, and a Ph.D. in Botany, Mary has worked as a staff scientist for toxics reform, environmental law, and public lands conservation organizations for 25 years.  She thinks backpacking and hiking are particularly amazing ways to spend days on Earth.

Phil Pearl - Associate Director: Development

Phil is a thirty year veteran of conservation programs and issues and will focus on strategic development, donor cultivation and fundraising for Trust programs.  Prior to the joining the Trust staff in October 2007,  Phil was the principal of Open Space Resources, a land conservation consulting firm; Northwest Regional Director for the National Parks and Conservation Association; Senior Project Manager for the Trust for Public Land; Program Director for the Lila Acheson and Dewitt Wallace Fund for the Hudson Highlands and Land Preservation Director for Scenic Hudson.  Phil earned his B.A. degree at Pennsylvania State University and Evergreen State College and his M.S. from Columbia University.

Kim Phelps - Development Assistant
Kim joined the trust in March of 2002. She works closely with the membership manager assisting in member services, mail campaigns, development strategies, and general clerical duties. Prior to joining the trust, Kimworked for Northern Arizona University, Office of Undergraduate Admissions, assisting with recruitment and retention programs. Kim was raised in Flagstaff and loves the outdoors.

Evelyn Sawyers - Associate Director: Finance
Since joining the Trust in October of 1994, Evelyn has been responsible for the organization's financial andadministrative affairs. In addition to representing the Trust to the financial community, she prepares andmaintains financial records, statements, and reports. Evelyn brings to the Trust over 12 years of progressive experience in accounting, with a developed expertise in fund accounting.

Tony Skrelunas- Native America Program Director
Tony re-joined the Trust in 2003 after spending 12 years working on sustainable economic development as Executive Director of the Navajo Nation Economic Development Division and Government Development Office, as a partner in Horizon Springs Partnership and as the former GCT Native American Program Director. He will coordinate the Trust's work with Tribes, communities and non-govermental organizations on conservation and sustainable development projects. He currently serves as a partner in Southwest Tradition Log Homes specializing in small diameter log homes, Board President for the Navajo Nation Shopping Centers, Inc.- a $40 million realty management company and Board Chair of the Native American Community Development Corporation- a non-profit affiliate of the Native American National Bank. Tony successfully combines his traditional Navajo upbringing with a western education- he has a B.A. and an M.B.A. from Northern Arizona University.

David Smuin – Utah Watersheds Program Manager

David joined the trust in May 2007 as the Utah Watersheds Manager. David is a fourth generation westerner with roots in the farming and ranching communities of eastern Utah and western Colorado.  He started his professional career in southern Utah 30 years ago as a uranium exploration geologist.  Later he worked onenvironmental site investigation and restoration projects for the Department of Energy and Department of Defense. He has a life-long passion for wildlife and wild country as a naturalist, fisherman, hunter, and tracker. He is leading a landscape scale watershed conservation and restoration program in Southern Utah.  The program will involve identifying key lands, acquiring properties, placing conservation easements and restoring stream and riparian habitats.  He has a B.S. in geology from Mesa State College and an M.S. in Hydrology from the University of Nevada in Reno.

Kate Watters – Volunteer Program Manager

Kate Watters joined the Trust in December 2007 as the Volunteer Program Manager. She plans to apply her knowledge of protecting and restoring natural areas, and her experience leading volunteers, to continue building the Trust’s thriving community of citizen stewards working to preserve the remarkable Colorado Plateau region. Her past experience includes 10 years as a trail crew member and field biologist with Grand Canyon National Park, and work for the Ecological Restoration Institute, the Arboretum, and the Museum of Northern Arizona, participating in a variety of restoration, plant survey, and native plant gardening projects.

 Kate earned a M.A. in Botany, Conservation Biology and Creative Writing in the Liberal Studies Program from Northern Arizona University, and a B.A. in Sociology from Wheaton College.  She is co-author of the book, River and Desert Plants of the Grand Canyon. Spare moments are devoted to her small textile design business as well as outdoor pursuits, traveling and playing guitar around the campfire.

Travis Wiggins – Volunteer Program Coordinator

 Travis’ interest in environmental conservation began in the Southwest as a volunteer in the Grand Canyon.  He started working at the Trust as a Volunteer Program intern in April 2007 and happily accepted a promotion to Volunteer Program Coordinator in November 2007.  Travis enjoys the excitement of working with scientists, policy-makers, and land managers to address environmental challenges.  However, most of all he enjoys sharing the landscapes of the Southwest with hardworking volunteers because he believes that the more time people spend experiencing wild places, the more they will be committed to protecting them.  Travis earned a BS  in Business Management from the University of Georgia.  He now spends his spare time hiking in beautiful country, rock climbing, sliding down snowy hills, and finding new places to explore with his partner Sonya and their dog Grey. 

Grand Canyon Trust Professional Advisors

Brett G. Dickson

 Brett received a Ph.D. in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology from Colorado State University in 2006, where his research focus was on the response of avian communities to landscape-level prescribed fire experiments in ponderosa pine forests of Arizona and New Mexico. He received a Master of Science degree in Forestry (2001) from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Conservation Biology (1996) from San Jose State University. Brett's other research interests include the use of spatial statistics and models in ecology, carnivore biology, and quantifying the effects of disturbance, fragmentation and urbanization on wildlife communities. Brett is an Assistant Research Professor in the Center for Environmental Sciences and Education at Northern Arizona University and was recently awarded a David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellowship for his work with the Grand Canyon Trust, focusing on the development of empirically-based models of fire, plant invasion, and wildlife habitat connectivity.

Thomas D. Sisk

Tom Sisk is an ecologist with the Center for Environmental Sciences and Education at Northern Arizona University.  He is a native of New Mexico and focuses on science and policy issues affecting biodiversity and natural resources, primarily in arid North America.  Tom directed an international program in tropical conservation biology for the Center for Conservation Biology at Stanford University, where he received his Ph.D. in 1992.  Before joining the NAU faculty in 1996, Tom served as the Special Assistant to the Director of the National Biological Service, U.S. Department of the Interior.  Currently, he teaches courses in ecology, conservation biology, and environmental policy, and oversees an active research group studying the effects of habitat fragmentation, livestock grazing, forest and fire management, and long-term changes in land use and land cover.  He coordinates NAU’s interdisciplinary M.S. program in Environmental Sciences and Policy, and serves on numerous editorial boards and advisory committees.  In 2001 he was named a fellow of the Aldo Leopold Leadership Program of the Ecological Society of America, and he was recently elected to Board of Governors of the Society for Conservation Biology.

Contact Us: Staff Directory